Eyal Zamir confirmed as Israeli military’s Chief of Staff

The last time chief of staff to leave the post before the end of his term was Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz, who resigned in 2007 over IDF failures during the Second Lebanon War of 2006.

By Pesach Benson, TPS

The Israeli government gave its approval for the appointment of Maj. Gen. (res.) Eyal Zamir as the next Israel Defense Forces chief of staff on Sunday.

Zamir will replace Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi, who announced on Jan. 21 he would resign over the military’s October 7 failures.

Halevi is due to step down on March 5.

Zamir, 59, was born and raised in Eilat. He would become the Chief of Staff to begin his career in the Armored Corps.

After joining the army in 1984 he became a tank commander, gradually climbing the ranks. He was eventually appointed as Netanyahu’s military secretary from 2012-2015.

From 2018 to 2021, he was deputy chief of staff before becoming a visiting research fellow at the Washington-based Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Zamir was also considered for the Chief of Staff in 2018 and 2022. In 2023, he was appointed Director General of the Defense Ministry.

He also has degrees from Tel Aviv and Haifa Universities and is a graduate of Wharton University’s General Management Program.

The IDF Chief of Staff serves for three years with the possibility of a one-year extension. The last time chief of staff to leave the post before the end of his term was Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz, who resigned in 2007 over IDF failures during the Second Lebanon War of 2006.

There have been growing calls for the government to appoint an independent commission of inquiry to investigate political and military failures. Such commissions have broader authority to summon witnesses and collect evidence and are headed by a senior Supreme Court justice.

They may include personal recommendations about individuals under investigation, though the government is not bound to act on the recommendations.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the governing coalition say an independent commission should only be appointed after the war.

The last state commission of inquiry, which investigated Israel’s worst civilian disaster — a stampede that killed 45 people at a holy site on Mount Meron — held Netanyahu personally responsible for the tragedy in a report released in April.